Firm sold Israel torture instruments

A Danish-British security company has sold torture instruments to the Israeli prisons, holding Palestinians inmates, a Danish newspaper has written.

The firm, named G4s, sells the devices to the detention facilities in the occupied West Bank, which provide the necessary means for torture of the Palestinian prisoners, Berlingske Tidende reported on Nov. 23.

Merav Amir, from Who Profits?, an Israeli organization which is dedicated to expose those who stand to benefit from the occupation, said it knew that the firm did not directly engage itself in torture, has created the circumstances required for the abuse.

There are around 9,000 Palestinians in Israeli detention. The families have for long been calling on human rights organizations and groups to intervene in order to secure the release of their loved ones, many of whom have been incarcerated without charge, trial and sentence.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, nearly 200 Palestinian inmates have so far died in Israeli confinement, either due to medical negligence or under torture.

The daily also exposed that the company also cooperates with armed Jewish settlers in Israel and sells tools and devices to the Israeli checkpoints.

The revelation came despite the human rights organizations’ insistence that the checkpoints — which dot the occupied lands — breach the Palestinians freedom of movement. It also defied the firm’s 2002 announcement that it would leave the West Bank in order not to cooperate with armed Israeli guards.